Massachusetts welfare recipients, including illegal immigrants, are squandering their taxpayer-funded welfare money in upscale tourist destinations in Hawaii, Florida and the Virgin Islands, the Boston Herald reported Tuesday.
Through a public records request, the Herald obtained data from the Massachusetts Department of Transition Assistance (DTA) showing when, where and how much Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cardholders spent during fiscal year 2024. That year, the DTA paid out a whopping $3 billion in state and federal aid to nearly 1 million people, or roughly 1 in 6 Massachusetts residents, according to a “performance scorecard” released in June by DTA Commissioner Jeff McCue.
Traveler's cheques
The paper found that “welfare recipients travel to nearly every state in the country” and collect welfare payments wherever they go.
In fiscal year 2024, welfare recipients made 32 purchases in Hawaii, 5,014 miles from Massachusetts, according to the Herald.
The largest spending in Hawaii was $378 in Kahului, Maui, in March of this year.
Another $351 was spent in January in Hilo, a Big Island town blessed with “dramatic waterfalls, fertile rainforests and blooming gardens.” EBT funds were also spent in Honolulu, Pearl City, Princeville, Waikoloa and Captain Cook, according to the EBT data entry list.
According to its website, Princeville is known for “master-planned homes and condominiums on Kauai's north shore.”
Captain Cook is a very similar spot, known for its snorkeling and jungle hikes, giving visitors a “sense of untouched Hawaii,” according to one website. The town is named after the famous British explorer, Captain James Cook, who lost his life here.
“This makes absolutely no sense. This is insanity and the worst of government,” Republican state Sen. Ryan Fatman told the paper.
“What the hell are we doing in Hawaii? I need this money to support my family,” he said. “I know there's something seriously wrong with the system.”
Take the money and run
Fatman believes people are coming to Massachusetts, applying for benefits, and then running off with the money of Bay State residents (and, to be fair, other Americans). The Herald argues that this is a “huge drag on the budget,” especially when the money is spent outside of New England.
“The people we need to take care of first are our veterans, our homeless kids, our teachers, our fire victims, our people with health issues,” Fatman said, “not the people who get off a plane or a bus and come to Massachusetts and then leave.”
To that end, he introduced a bill that would require people to have lived in the state for at least a year before they could receive welfare.
The Herald also found 15 EBT withdrawals in the Virgin Islands, the largest of $116, and 17 in Alaska, including $395 in Anchorage and $217 in Wasilla, where Sarah Palin served two terms as mayor. Massachusetts welfare payments were also spent in 165 cities and towns in California and 293 in Florida. The only places where payments were not spent were in foreign countries, where such spending is banned. The Herald reported that “no records were produced to show whether anyone tried to violate the ban.”
“While traveling to visit family is understandable, the scale of the travel raises questions about whether all of the recipients truly need the benefits,” Mary Connaughton, director of government transparency at the Boston-based Pioneer Institute for Public Policy, told the Herald.
In a statement to Fox News, the DTA said public assistance is only available to individuals with “annual incomes at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level,” adding:
State and federal laws regulate what can be purchased with benefits and where they can be purchased, and spending outside the state beyond an approved temporary absence could result in an individual losing assistance because they would not meet Massachusetts residency requirements.
Immigrant Lazy
The question then becomes not just whether everyone on welfare is eligible to receive it, but whether the DTA is monitoring where the money is being spent and taking appropriate action when recipients break the rules.
There is good reason to suspect that this is not the case: after all, DTA bureaucrats are not spending their own money and therefore have little interest in whether it is being spent appropriately.
Moreover, Massachusetts is a very liberal state where Democrats have virtually free reign. In fact, state officials have little concern about how taxpayer money is spent, according to Fox News.
Massachusetts is a sanctuary state, meaning immigrants can access these welfare programs, and an estimated 50,000 illegal immigrants have flooded into the state since 2021.
A recent report from the Center for Immigration Studies projects the state's immigration crisis will cost taxpayers $1.8 billion over the next two years.
Immigrants are eligible to receive food stamps provided by the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Medicaid, and other public services. Immigrants may access these programs even if the federal government prohibits them from doing so. (Emphasis added.)
On top of that, the state has an existing program that provides emergency assistance with housing costs, which resettlement agencies are trying to enroll migrants in. And, according to a Herald report, the state has a pilot program that will “use $8 million from a $10 million fund already set aside for resettlement agencies to help up to 400 families find long-term housing by the end of the year.”
But why bother? Apparently the DTA is already resettling immigrants to other states.
